ORLANDO — Day 2 of the Performance Racing Industry trade show reminded me there will be three classes of sportscars in the Jan. 26-27 Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Grand-Am Road Racing will add the GX class in 2013 and those mighty-mites will make their debut over Daytona International Speedway’s 3.56-mile road course.

Sylvain Tremblay

While similar to the Grand Touring sedans, the GT Extreme class, or GX, will showcase modern technology, which was put on display by Mazda here Friday.

The Mazda racing brass gathered here to announce its assault on the twice-around-the-clock endurance race, which will feature one “factory” car and three customer cars, all diesel-powered Mazda6 machines. SpeedSource and Sylvain Tremblay are leading the charge for this new venture.

“We’ve been working on this car for two years,” Tremblay said after the press conference Friday. “We’ve tried to keep as many stock components as possible in the engine. We have 63 percent stock parts in the race engine, which is almost unheard of in a race engine.”

Mazda has more than 20 class wins at Daytona, so the company knows the lay of the land. Tremblay made it sound like a veteran trainer bringing a new thoroughbred to the Kentucky Derby.

Racing version of the Mazda6

“It’s scary to me because how tough that particular event is, but it’s comforting to me because how well we know it,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of work with this engine on the dyno, so we’ve literally done hundreds of laps at Daytona in the shop, but not in real life.

“It will be interesting to bring this new Mazda to that particular track. We have such a love for the Rolex 24 and Daytona. There’s no better place for it to make its debut.”

Grand-Am has championed two classes since its inception, led by the marquee Daytona Prototypes, which are powered by V-8 engines. GT has featured recognizable nameplates such as Porsche, Ferrari, Corvettes and Mustangs.

GX was created for cars with new technology. What Grand-Am wanted to do was be a leader in what Tremblay says “what can be raced.”

The Mazda6 has a 2.2-liter, stock-block, twin-turbo diesel engine and had no place to race until Grand-Am created the GX class.

“This is a way for manufacturers to prove their technology and how it make a difference for Average Joe,” Tremblay said. “If we can get a four-door sedan up to 55 miles per gallon in the next few years, that will help change peoples’ lives.”

Mazda was the first company to commit to race the GX class. The competition for the Rolex 24 will likely be Lotus and Porsche. Word is that Subaru and Hyundai have expressed an interest.

“The first year will be a building year; we’ll see people ramping up,” Tremblay said.

By comparison, the Daytona Prototypes can top 200 mph while the GTs get up to around 185. The fastest GX entries will top out around 175 mph.

Tremblay will share the flagship No. 70 Mazda6 for the season. They will be joined on the Rolex 24 roster by Marino Franchitti and IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe.

Name dropping

Bumped into 1960 Daytona 500 winner Marvin Panch, who was signing autographs next to his winning race machine.

Robert Yates, left, and Marvin Panch

I said, “Marvin, I didn’t know you would be here.”

Marvin replied, “Neither did I.”

“Mad Max” Papis, who will race a Ferrari in the Rolex 24, was working the aisles with a water bottle in hand.

Rockingham Speedway owner Andy Hillenburg, was working the show from multiple levels. He owns a stock-car driving school and an ARCA team in addition to his owner/operator tag at “The Rock.”

Engine builder Robert Yates had a booth, but he knows so many people, never had a chance to chat.

Motorcycle team owner Richie Morris was making the rounds and the Spirit Of Daytona Daytona Prototype was getting a lot of attention from those making the rounds.